Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is just a few minutes away, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note:  Any question or comment received after then will not get an answer, and in fact will just be deleted.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 143,916th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.1 of The Magic Monday FAQ here. 

Also: I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.  And further:  I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

The image? I field a lot of questions about my books these days, so I've decided to do little capsule summaries of them here, one per week. The book above was my forty-third published book and my sixth published novel. When I finished the first of my tentacle novels, The Weird of Hali:  Innsmouth, I had no idea what I was going to do with the really rather odd para-Lovecraftian fictional cosmos that downloaded itself into my head in the process of writing that first novel. I wasn't even sure at first there would be a sequel, but I enjoyed that world too much to set it aside after just one book. That's when quiet, mousy little Jenny Parrish, a minor character from the first novel, started the process that turned her into one of the two main characters of the series.

I don't invent my characters. I meet them in the recesses of my imagination, and they constantly do things that surprise me. (I suspect this will sound like florid psychosis to anyone who isn't a writer of fiction, but it's the way many of us do things.) Jenny's the all time champion at surprising me in a story. She very quietly let me know that she should be the main character of the second book. When I began writing, I had no idea what her backstory was, I didn't know that she was asexual, I had no idea what her connection to the Lovecraftian cosmos was, and I certainly had no idea that she was only half human and would become the greatest sorceress of this age of the world; she took the lead, in much the same way that Trey sunna Gwen did in the writing of Star's Reach, except Trey was about as subtle as a ruinman's iron pry bar and liked to tip back a few beers and talk, while Jenny simply showed me which way to go and let me figure out the rest for myself.

The book duly got finished and saw print. I kept writing, though various confusions got in the way of publishing the others for a while; when they finally got into print, it was all in a lump. If you're interested in this volume of the series, you can get a copy here if you're in the US and here elsewhere.

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 

 

I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed, and no more comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Is Vatican II Catholicism ruled by Pluto rather than Jupiter?

[ecosophia]

To my mind it's ruled primarily by Neptune, the planet of soaring idealism and clueless delusion, deception and self-deception, the quest for unity that so often turns to self-contradiction and self-undoing. Neptune is the natural ruler of the 12th house of secret enemies and self-defeating behaviors. He is also the Lord of the Great Deep and the planet of mysticism and enlightenment, but it's always problematic to try to ground his influences in an institutional setting!

[(Anonymous)]

Good evening and thank you for hosting this.

Could black tourmaline be a good choice for a scrying mirror? I’ve read your instructions for a mirror in Circles of Power but I’m not very crafty and since tourmaline has a crystalline structure it seems like it would work and be pretty straightforward. I often see people using obsidian but I would guess that that’s less effective.

[ecosophia]

Black tourmaline should work well as a scrying stone, since many people these days hold that it has protective and healing capacities.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

At this link is the full list of all of the requests for prayer that have recently appeared at ecosophia.net and ecosophia.dreamwidth.org, as well as in the comments of the prayer list posts. Please feel free to add any or all of the requests to your own prayers.

If I missed anybody, or if you would like to add a prayer request for yourself or anyone who has given you consent (or for whom a relevant person holds power of consent) to the list, please feel free to leave a comment below and/or in the comments at the current prayer list post.

* * *

This week I would like to bring special attention to the following prayer requests.

May Giulia (Julia) in the Eastern suburbs of Cleveland Ohio be healed of recurring seizures and paralysis of her left side and other neurological problems associated with a cyst on the right side of her brain and with surgery to treat it.

May Tyler and Monika's newborn baby Isabelle, whose bowels were not moving properly at birth, be blessed with a well functioning digestive tract and be free of colic going forward.

May Falling Tree Woman's son's girlfriend's mother Bridget in Devon UK, who has recently started to sit up and converse after more than six weeks of bedridden tracheotomy following a life-threatening fall from a horse, be blessed and healed and returned to full health.

May Corey Benton, whose throat tumor has grown around an artery and won't be treated surgically, be healed of throat cancer.

May Heather's brother in law, Patrick, who is dying of cancer and has dementia, go gentle into that good light. And may his wife Maggie, who is ill herself, find the strength and peace she needs for her situation. (Update on Patrick's condition here)

May Neptune's Dolphins' husband David, who lost one toe to a staph infection last year and now faces further toe amputations due to diabetic ulcers in his left foot, be blessed and healed, and may the infection leave his body for good.

May Rebecca, who has just been laid off from her job and is the sole provider for her family, quickly discover a viable means to continue to support her family; may she and her family be blessed and sustained in their journey forward.

May Kyle's friend Amanda, who though in her early thirties is undergoing various difficult treatments for brain cancer, make a full recovery; and may her body and spirit heal with grace.

Lp9's hometown, East Palestine, Ohio, for the safety and welfare of their people, animals and all living beings in and around East Palestine, and to improve the natural environment there to the benefit of all.

* * *
Guidelines for how long prayer requests stay on the list, how to word requests, how to be added to the weekly email list, how to improve the chances of your prayer being answered, and several other common questions and issues, are to be found at the Ecosophia Prayer List FAQ.

If there are any among you who might wish to join me in a bit of astrological timing, I pray each week for the health of all those with health problems on the list on the astrological hour of the Sun on Sundays, bearing in mind the Sun's rulerships of heart, brain, and vital energies. If this appeals to you, I invite you to join me.

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

Review of the Idea of the Holy and Translations/Commentaries on the Wider Mabinogion

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

If you're in the northern hemisphere, may you be enjoying some (slightly) cooler weather.

To Share: I wrote up my thoughts on Rudolf Otto's short, but influential, book here: https://jpowellrussell.com/#book_thoughts_on_the_idea_of_the_holy

To Ask: For the first four grades of the Dolmen Arch, I found Will Parker's The Four Branches of the Mabinogi incredibly helpful as a supplement to what the DA books gave me for my meditations. Now that I'm working on other tales from the wider Mabinogion, I find myself missing the alternative translation and commentary. Do you (or anyone in the commentariat) have recommendations for other translations and/or commentary that cover the three tales included in the Greater Mysteries?

Thank you again, JMG and everyone here!

My blessings to all who welcome them,
Jeff

Re: Review of the Idea of the Holy and Translations/Commentaries on the Wider Mabinogion

[ecosophia]

I wish I did. The tales from the Mabinogion aside from the Four Branches have been neglected unfairly.

[(Anonymous)]

Your book Paths of Wisdom already had answered many of my questions regarding discursive meditation. However, I have a few more. That book is a massive ordeal to follow:

1. The book recommends disecting a path's complete symbolism and image, and then the godname, the archangel, the angelic host and so on all of which can easily take a full month of meditation.
Last MM, I read your answers regarding someone's meditation on Sandalphon who shared his vision. You said that meditations on the archangel of the path may result in visions of the path as a whole and vice versa.

Cab you explain why? Why would a meditation on an extremely abstract notion like 'archangel of Malkuth' result in esoteric knowledge about the entire path?

2. Can you please expand on that and how we may escape the trap of endless meditations on a subject and know just when to stop and progress to the next part of the path? After all, every meditation teacher will reveal that meditation will be the hardest and dullest activity of my life lol.

[ecosophia]

1) Because meditating on an archangel need not be an abstract experience. Sometimes it can lead to contact with the archangel, or to one of his subordinate angels, and to a transfer of information. Sometimes, furthermore, meditating on one symbol opens up others.

2) "Trap" is the right word for it! Set yourself a fixed amount of time for your current work on each sphere or path; say, one session for each symbol. No, you won't get everything from it that you could, but your first pass through should focus on getting a general overview. You can go back and do things more intensively later.

[(Anonymous)]

Yay, tentacles! 🦑

—Princess Cutekitten

[ecosophia]

Great Cthulhu's emissary is pleased:

[k_a_nitz]

Of late I have been trying to add another daily practice to the ones I already have, but can't seem to even start. Similarly one I started at the beginning of the year (learning another language) dropped off when I picked up another practice. I think I have found a personal limit on the number of daily practices I can manage whilst working full time - at three (translation, Tibetan Rites, letter mysticism) plus a bit of gardening on weekends. And I don't have a TV or a YouTube/Facebook/TikTok/whatever habit, or a family to make claims on my time. So my question for the commentariat is whether they are experiencing a similar limit on daily practices.

(Just looking at it again, it struck me that I have a balance there of intellectual, physical, and spiritual.)

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. I have a fairly robust schedule of practices these days, but that's because I've been doing daily esoteric practice for more than forty years. As it is, I only spend about two hours a day on my practices -- more than that seems to be too much.

Relationship between Names and Things.

[jurgen_haagen_dazs]

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the opportunity to ask you some questions. 

I’ve been wondering about something I’ve seen and heard in the references and I had hoped you might expound on the subject given your wide range of experience and training in the relevant matters. This has to do with the assignation of correspondences to include Names with the heavenly spheres we perceive from Earth. I’ve wondered if the same planets we name today were regarded by the ancients as the same name we ascribe to them. For example, did the cult of Saturn revere the planet Saturn and how do I know this? This is particularly interesting with respect to the outer planets who have names from mythology that were assigned recently and consequently there is not a clearly identifiable public link to the ancient mystery religion practitioners. I’ve especially wondered this as these heavenly spheres are said to have (named) Spirits and Intelligences and these could presumably be contacted using the same means. But that requires at least for some methods knowing its proper Name in a given system. Which if someone has given you a system of generating Names this may not be an issue practically any longer but the ontological question remains as now one could generate Names for planets that don’t exist and what would that mean if one contacted a Spirit or Intelligence by that appellation?

Thank you again for the opportunity to ask you questions. I often find value in the discussions you host and I am but one of many silent and grateful beneficiaries.

Jürgen

Re: Relationship between Names and Things.

[ecosophia]

It depends on which ancients you have in mind. Our names for the ancient planets -- Mercury, Venus, etc. -- are derived from the Latin names for the planets: Mercurius, Venus, Mars, Iupiter, Saturnus. Uranus and Neptune, along with the minor planets Ceres and Pluto and the asteroids, were given modern names by astronomers who paid no attention to the astrological and magical dimensions of those bodies. (Uranus should have been called Prometheus, and Neptune should probably have been called Rhea.)

The ancient Greeks called those five planets Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus and Cronus; the Babylonians called them Sihtu, Dilbat, Salbatanu, Sagmegar, and Kayyamanu, and so on. All the ancient languages had their own names for them.

How do we know which name went with which planetary bodies? That's easy; when a Babylonian clay tablet says that Dilbat and Sagmegar were conjunct in the sign of Mulallu on such and such a day in the reign of King Hammurabi, any Babylonian dictionary will tell you that allu is the word for "crab," Mulallu (Mul- is the prefix for things in the sky) is the constellation Cancer the Crab, and you can then look up the date in planetary tables and see that yes, Jupiter and Venus were conjunct in Cancer on that day. It helps that the Babylonians in particular wrote down detailed tables of the planets' movements, so you can check each planet's orbital period -- Kayyamanu takes thirty years to go around the zodiac, Sagmegar twelve, and so on.

[(Anonymous)]

Perhaps this is an odd question, but are there any karmic consequences to cosmetic surgery and other related procedures (hair removal, etc)? Does it depend on the type of procedure and the reasons one is getting it? It's something I didn't really think about before but I've been reading about these things lately and thinking about how some people seem to get trapped in a spiral of sort of hating their appearance when the question struck, and I wondered if there was a spiritual dimension to the whole thing.

[ecosophia]

Not so much karmic as psychological. People very often convince themselves that their feelings of inadequacy and self-hatred will go away if only some part of their body was different, and the cosmetic surgery is happy to feed that delusion and take their money. Of course it never works, because you can't amputate an emotional state! So people get caught up in the usual trap of trying to get something by methods that will never work.

Three disparate questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG:

I hope none of these are too annoying--they are not intended to be, but I can understand how they would be taken to be so:

1) I am seriously thinking about just moving to Hawaii (I can afford to do so, but I won't have anything like Oprah Winfrey money, so I would be on a budget). Are you aware of any islands/locations on the islands that are particularly helpful for spiritual evolution?

2) I've read your musing on aliens, UFOs, etc., but I am wondering if you have read the recently released book by Luis Elizondo called Imminent. If so, does it change your opinion at all on the subject? Or do you think he is full of it, or something else entirely?

3) If I understood correctly, you once commented that being an "old soul" is not a good thing--rather, it means that you have been reincarnating too much and aren't developing quickly enough and moving on to other things. If that is correct, what is a "typical" number of lifetimes as a human on this plane before transitioning to a higher being?

Thanks!

Re: Three disparate questions

[ecosophia]

1) I'll have to leave this to people who know something about Hawai'ian sacred geography. Anybody?

2) No, I haven't read it.

3) That's not quite what I said. Old souls become that way because they made a lot of mistakes and have to hang around while they work off the karma. There's no typical number of lives, since so much depends on the personal element, but if you've been incarnating here for more than a couple of thousand years you probably should get busy cleaning up your act.

[mountainchild]

Dear JMG,

Thank you for your time and for these Magic Mondays. It makes a big difference in my life and is a huge resource in my own personal quests for growth and development.

Question 1:
I was hoping to get your insight about what might be happening with a specific type of experience. I noticed it first and most often during martial arts, but have found it in other spheres of life as well. Occasionally when in situations where there isn't time to think or process in the moment and immediate action is required, I find myself reacting with an action or choice of technique that normally would be highly unlikely to work, but ends up working perfectly. And the action is taken with the knowledge that it is going to work. Not the hunch, but the knowledge it is going to/has worked. It doesn't feel like knowing an outcome before it happens. It feels like simultaneously existing in all moments of the event at the same time.

I haven't asked around, but watching the world around me, I'm guessing this is an experience that is not as uncommon as it sounds at first. I was wondering if you had any thoughts or insight as to what might be going on when this happens?

Question 2:
I'm planning on making a set of divination tiles for someone. This is the first time I'll be making magical tools for someone else and I was wondering if there is anything I should be careful about or do differently than when I make magical tools for myself?

[ecosophia]

1) The inner dimensions of human consciousness are not stuck in linear time, and so it's quite common for glimpses of the future to pop through this way. That's one of the things included in that slippery word "intuition."

2) If you can get the other person involved in the making, even in a very minor way, that will help attune the tool to them. Other than that, it's the same.

Blessing offer; MOE Healer attunement

[milkyway1]

Good morning! :-)

Two offers to the community today:

1. Again, I'm going to perform a formal blessing on Wednesday and will happily include anybody who signs up:

https://thehiddenthings.com/weekly-blessings-36

This allows me to practice, and you'd do me a favour by signing up. Thanks!

2. To the MOE practitioners:

I'm going to perform a Healer attunement on Sunday, Sep 22nd. Details are here:

https://thehiddenthings.com/moe-healer-attunement-2024-09

It's also possible to be re-attuned if you already are an attuned MOE Healer! :-)


JMG, thanks a lot for letting me post this here, and for hosting MM again,

Milkyway

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what LBRH, LBRP or WON mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia.

Thanks for the book summaries. Now up to book 43 and it's only 2018. Looking forward to the next six years of books!

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

Harmful magic + ghost?

[(Anonymous)]

I encountered a very odd and potentially dangerous situation recently, and would very much appreciate your advice. My apologies in advance for the longish text.

My partner and me recently spent two nights on an "adult getaway" in a rental house explicitly intended for couples, booked through an online portal. Since I expected such a place to have some potentially negative residue from prior use, I included it into my standard daily SOP the few days before our arrival by simply putting a sphere around it at the end, too.

When we arrived, the house was a very old townhouse, but its vibes were pleasant enough and eveything felt well, and I didn't think it necessary to do another SOP right there on arrival (a mistake, as you might guess...). The landlady, a young woman in maybe her early twenties, was nice and friendly, albeit with an off-vibe: over-eager, too wound up, and generally seemed to be trying very hard to make us love the place (my partner later said she seemed to him as if high on drugs, although she probably hadn't taken any).

Right from the start in this house, things were very weird: we both felt sluggish and without much drive, any lovemaking was rather lackluster and we both had a hard time getting to the end. We both got physical issues which mostly seemed to be related to stuck or blocked energies. We also had the constant urge to air the house (not easy because of tiny windows and daytime heat), and by the next day the constant urge to go outside for a walk, a cup of coffee, etc (which is most decidedly not what we had come for!). My partner afterwards told me he also had a "ringing" in his ears which he usually experiences "when something energetic goes on".

In hindsight, the atmosphere was stifling, sluggish, congested, and not very good - but it took both of us until sometime on the second day to realize this at least semi-consciously. Before that, I was of the impression that the house was nice and had good vibes etc.

After our stay, our physical issues if anything got worse rather than better, despite me doing daily SOPs for myself. Also, I sat down with my notebook the day after we returned, to sort out the whole strange episode, and started to make notes on what to ask on MM. However, I totally forgot about everything afterwards - about my questions, about the fact that my physical issues had started on this trip, and even that we've been on a trip at all (similarly for my partner). It took a major intervention (by my higher self? my guardian genius?) about a week later to remember things in the first place - and once I well and truly remembered, I had an incredibly lousy day, but now my physical issues seem to be somewhat better (again, similar for my partner, whom I then started talking to).

During the first night, there was another odd occurence on top of all that: In the middle of the night, we both woke up because we heard (and felt) what I assumed was a ghost on the stairs (very loud creaking, the distinct feeling of somebody walking up towards us). It paused when I said something aloud and pushed an improvised protective sphere outwards, and vanished for good when I started doing a SOP in my imagination. I did some protective stuff on the second day: two SOPs again in my imagination; talking to the house and telling it we just want to sleep peacefully; and reinforcing the protective sphere whenever I woke up at night (which was often due to the very lousy mattress). The second night was quiet.

There were also other oddities (e.g. raving reviews on the online booking portal, even though the mattress was truly horrible; my partner noticing another strange "smell" which couldn't be aired out of the house).

As I said, I'd very much appreciate your advice on a few things, as some of this is both above my current skill level and clearly harmful.

My magical chops are limited: SOP (in general, and for specific purposes), natural magic and practical magic like the red bags, and I worship the planetary deities and have a good connection to them. My partner doesn't practice occultism or magic, but knows about my practice and supports it.


1. The most pressing thing, health-wise, is to make sure all connections to whatever that was are well and truly severed, and any potential residue is cleared.

a. To achieve this, will it be enough if I perform one or more dedicated SOPs for each of us, respectively? And how many would you do?

b. If SOPs might not be enough, what else should I/we do?


2. The whole things stinks to high heaven. Back at that house, I had a hard time thinking clearly about it, and my best (muddled) assumption was that the constant use of the place by couples had attracted some predatory entities which were sucking off energy - and even then I couldn't think clearly enough to consider doing something about it. But with the clarity of hindsight, the fact that the house "felt" much better and clearer than it was, plus the subsequent forgetfulness, make me think that this was some kind of nasty magic, probably by the landlady (or a group she belongs to). It seems that there are at least three parts to it: a. something to make the house appear attractive; b. something to suck of people's sexual/life energy; c. something to make them forget about what happened; and d. potentially also something to cause a harmful backlash if people should remember and throw off the spell.

Does this sound like a probable explanation? Or would something else be equally or more likely? (I'm not expecting a certain tele diagnosis, just trying to get a reasonable idea of what we might have been up against.)


3. I can't in good conscience let future visitors run into this. But I'm also not willing to do anything which would be a risk to my safety or that of my family. (As I started writing this text, our fire alarms went off for no discernible reason, which I take to be a warning to be careful on how I proceed.)

Since this is a place for lovers, I've considered petitioning Venus, bringing the whole story before Her, and then leaving it in Her capable hands to deal with this however She sees fit.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Or do you have any other suggestions?


The rest of the questions from here on are less urgent, and I'll gladly repost them next week or two if it's getting too much.

4. The being on the stairs in the first night: Back then I assumed it was a ghost, since it seemed to fit the bill (can't say if there was also something visible, though, as I was too chicken to look...). Once I had gotten over the initial scare, it didn't feel malicious to me. In fact, my first clear intuition was "funny - it came out because it wanted to see the people who did the SOPs and cleared up the atmosphere here". But since I've initially been wrong on so many things in this case, I don't trust my judgement here either.

From the description, would you think this was likely a (harmless) ghost? Or potentially something else, maybe related to the other harmful things?


5. Assuming it was indeed some poor (harmless) soul which got stuck there and can't move on: Strictly speaking, it's not my responsibility, but I would like to do them the courtesy to help, to the extent it's doable and safe for me.

I've considered petitioning Mercury/Hermes in His role as psychopomp and ask if He'd be willing to take care of it, but chances are good that person was a Christian in their material incarnation.

Do you think this would be helpful, or is it a bad idea?


6. Apart from physically performing a SOP right on arrival and one or two more per day while there, is there anything else I/we could have done (short of leaving)?


7. In general, and assuming a capable and experienced performer, is it possible to counter this kind of malicious magic with the SOP? Or would this require the bigger guns?


8. I have been wondering if some of our physical issues might have been triggered by the fact that I did the SOPs etc and thus worked against that magic, and also that we doggedly refused to forget/ignore what we were obviously supposed to forget and ignore.

Is it possible that we triggered some kind of backlash which was built into a magical working and thus were hit harder than we otherwise would have been?



Finally, I wanted to let you know that your teachings make a big difference. Without the SOP and various bit and pieces I've learned from you, I wouldn't have been able to handle this situation as well as I did (even though there is definitely still room for improvement ;) ). And while we didn't get out of it unscathed, things could have been a lot worse.

So thanks a lot, not just for any replies you'll care to give, but also for the work you do, and especially for Magic Mondays!

Re: Harmful magic + ghost?

[ecosophia]

1) I recommend also doing the protective bath described in the Magic Monday FAQ. Both you and your partner should do that at least once.

2) It could be something like that, yes.

3) Invoking Venus and letting her deal with it is an excellent plan.

4) Since I wasn't there, I have no idea. It could have been any number of things.

5) Have you done divination about this?

6-7) This kind of thing generally requires more intensive magical work; the SoP will help but it may not be enough by itself. There are various methods of magical purification and cleansing, and any of them might be useful.

8) That's possible. Again, divination might be a helpful guide here.

Numerology & Astrology

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

Thank you very much for providing this forum and sharing your knowledge with us.

I have two questions regarding numerology and horoscopes, respectively:

1. What is one supposed to do with names written in non-Latin letters/characters? E.g., does one use the Latin transcription of a Chinese name?

2. How does deal with births by Caesarean in horoscopes and numerology? Can one use these dates without problems, or must they be adjusted?

Thanks for your help!

Re: Numerology & Astrology

[ecosophia]

1) That's a complex issue! Any alphabet or syllabary that's learned in a fixed sequence can be used in the standard way by writing out the numbers 1-9 and then, below them, the letters in order, in groups of nine, just as in setting up the English numerological matrix:


Non-alphabetic languages such as Chinese are challenging; I'd encourage you to ask someone familiar with Chinese occultism. I've heard claims that there are Chinese systems based on the number of brush strokes in each character, but don't quote me on that.

2) You use the date of birth, no matter how the birth takes place. The moment of the child's first breath is the one that matters.

Purification: new living quarters

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, JMG and thanks for your generosity in answering so many questions each week.

I have recently had to move to a apartment because of the end of my marriage. And I just realized, given all the challenging emotions/energies around me at this time, that it would be good to do something for spiritual purification of my new living space.

I have enough sage to burn a bit in each room of the apartment. But the sage was grown at the place I recently moved out of. Does this provenance have any relevance to the purification, or would it be better to use something from a more "neutral" location? ( When I write it out like that, it seems like perhaps I've answered my own question.) Or perhaps there is a better alternative to burning sage. (Almost no experience doing ritual magic.) Thanks for any recommendations.

*Ochre Harebrained Curmudgeon*

Re: Purification: new living quarters

[ecosophia]

First, please accept my condolences. Even if something like that is amicable, it's always a wrench.

The sage should be fine, since after all you'll be burning it! If the floor can be mopped, you might also mop it with water to which salt, vinegar, and red pepper have been added -- to one bucket, a quarter cup of salt, a cup of vinegar, and a tablespoon of pepper is good. Start in the kitchen and end at the front door. That's an old hoodoo way of cleansing a space, and it makes for a nice clean space.

animal devas

[randomactsofkarmasc]

In the past, you've mentioned the group soul of animals (such as dogkind) and devas. Do the devas appreciate offerings, etc.?

Re: animal devas

[ecosophia]

The only offerings I've ever made are to charities that help the animals in question, and the devas seem to like those. I'm not sure about other options.

Spiritual Alchemy Oracle

[randomactsofkarmasc]

Thank you to those of you who have let me beta test my Oracle on you!

If you are interested in being a beta tester and having a reading done, you can message me here at Dreamwidth or you can email me at hello @ druidalchemist.com or you can leave a comment here: https://druidalchemist.com/oracle/.

Also, I'm starting to work on the Little White Book to go along with the Oracle. A (draft) chapter is posted on the webpage above. (It is the first chapter I've written, though I don't know if it will be the first chapter of the LWB...)

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,


I hope all is well with you and everybody else here today.

1. Have you ever worked with R.J. Stewart's material? If so, what do you think of it? This question is also open to anybody familiar with Stewart's work.

2. Have you ever worked with fairies? If so, have you found them to be as dangerous as a lot of folklore makes them out to be? Are they powerful/helpful entities?

3. What would be a safe and respectful way of initiating communication with fairies?

Thanks for your help.

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, I worked very extensively with his Merlin books over a period of several years. I also used his book The UnderWorld Initiation for a series of workings. I find his work very solid and recommend it.

2) No, that's not something I've felt any call to do.

3) There I can't help you. I think one of Stewart's books covers that, however.

[(Anonymous)]

To share:
https://transitviewer.net/
This is a great resource that easily pulls up all transits both mundane and natal and can be downloaded straight to a calendar. You can adjust what planets or aspects you want to see.

To ask:
There are natal charts for businesses(ipo) and I wonder it is effective to use workings intended for people but with these charts. And if so would there be negative blowback? These would all be beneficial workings.

A friend

[ecosophia]

Natal charts for businesses are quite commonly used in stock market astrology. In terms of workings, well, do you mean astrological talismans, or what? In any case, what matters in terms of blowback is your actual intention. If you're trying to get rich without working for it, yes, it'll blow up in your face. (This is one of the two most reliable sources of magical failure I know of.) If you simply want the company to prosper, though, that should be fine.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,


Jean Dubuis stated the following in his Fundamentals of Esoteric Knowledge:

[...] "strive to be in harmony with the egregore of your birth because you can find there what suits you best on this Earth, for the degree of evolution in which you find yourself."

Dubuis also felt you should focus on traditions that are from your own wider culture in general; not exclusively from your country of birth. He seems to have meant that in its broadest sense i.e. Western and Eastern cultures.

I was born and raised in Ireland, and in recent years I have felt very attracted to some of the native beliefs and practices of Irish culture. I was also raised as a Catholic; but this is now causing some problems for me in terms of feeling guilt about interest in esotericism.


Dubuis' opinions really got me thinking about all of this. Luc Benoist's book 'The Esoteric Path' also says something similar. Benoist also believes that you should practice the Path that your ancestors followed:


"Our inherited path for purely practical reasons is best, since we are bound to it by psychic, intellectual, and emotional ties, and our spirituality consists in the synthesis and elevation of these ties. All spiritual symbolism possesses an 'aura' which is the result of its origins and is tinged with the colour of place, time, and language. Adaptation to a new and alien way is no easier than the conscious acceptance of and a clear-minded penetration into the deeper meaning of the old. It is better to accept our own national tradition, which we are free to go more deeply into if we can. For whatever we may do from the deepest recesses of our own hearts to the darkness of the sublime, the Path, as Plotinus has said, always leads from the alone to the Alone."


Christianity has been in Ireland since the 5th Century. But traditions like Druidry and other forms of spirituality have been here for far longer. Which one do you think would be the more powerful influence? Which one would qualify as more native? I suppose it could be a combination of the two, given how long Christianity has been here. A lot of pre-Christian practices were incorporated into Christian ones.


Do you have any thoughts on all of this? Thanks in advance.

[ecosophia]

I disagree with Dubuis and Benoist. Practicing an ancestral faith is doubtless an option for many people but it's simply not true to say that it's the best option for all. My ancestral religion is old-fashioned Scottish Presbyterianism, and I know of few faiths that turn my stomach more violently. My religious tradition, Druidry, was invented out of whole cloth three centuries ago by a bunch of English and Welsh eccentrics; my magical path is a jumble of influences in which Egypt, ancient Greece, and the late 19th and early 20th century Anglo-American cultural sphere are the major keys; and the one other tradition that appeals powerfully to me is Japanese esoteric Buddhism, with which I have no ancestral ties at all.

It seems to me that the fixation on ancestral traditions is an example of excessive focus on the material plane. The origins of your bodily genetics do not determine the affinities of your soul.

Suicide and karma

[(Anonymous)]

I know you've written before about the karmic consequences of suicide, but of course I can't find those comments. Would you please talk about it one more time? Particularly regarding someone who exited because of mental/emotional pain (grief, depression, anxiety, loneliness) vs. a physical reason like incurable terminal disease. Thank you!

--Smaragdine Unkempt Beaver

Re: Suicide and karma

[ecosophia]

If you commit suicide in an attempt to run away from your problems, it won't work; they'll be waiting for you on the other side, and will accompany you into your next incarnation. In the meantime, according to many teachings, the suicide's soul will have to wait around in an intermediate state until the time when death would have normally occurred. It's as though you tried to cut ahead in line; you'll be gently but firmly made to wait until your turn comes up.

Incurable terminal disease -- that's a slightly more complex matter. A person who is in the process of dying can refuse food and water without karmic penalty; death is already in process, and this just speeds it up a bit. (The suffering of hunger and thirst that comes with the experience work off any karma that might be involved.) Anything more active? That's suicide or, if done by someone else, homicide. The same is true if there's a terminal diagnosis but the person isn't actively dying. It really is best in most situations to deal with things as they come and let the guy with the scythe show up when he chooses.

Upright Card 29 Dodecahedron: Transcendence?

[saturns_pet]

John Michael Greer:

Firstly, I humbly ask you for a brief additional comment of your choosing about the upright card 29 (Dodecahedron: Transcendence) in your Sacred Geometry Oracle beyond the content about the upright card 29 which you put in your valuable book Techniques For Geometric Transformation. Do have much experience with the influence(s) signified by this card in its upright position? I surprisingly drew it for the card signifying the outcome of a personally high (or sattvic) and personally somewhat solemn action which I have likely already initiated.

Secondly, I recommend to students of your verily praiseworthy Sacred Geometry Oracle that they research the etymologies of each card's two keywords. My own research of this kind engendered certain and mentionable improvement in my interpretations of the cards for purposes both introspective and predictive, and was fun to boot.

Cordially,

Saturns_Pet, or, as nominated today by Cosmic Oom, Translucent Gaseous Hippogriff :)

Re: Upright Card 29 Dodecahedron: Transcendence?

[ecosophia]

1) What the card is telling you is that it is indeed solemn, and relates to spiritual issues and influences beyond anything you planned. This card indicates that there's a further spiritual dimension at work in whatever the divination is about.

2) Glad to hear it!

[(Anonymous)]

i have a couple articles i saved for Magic Monday i thought i would share:

Saturn’s majestic rings will vanish in just six months from now

Thankfully, this isn’t a permanent change. It’s a fleeting cosmic event that recurs every 29.5 years, which is how long it takes Saturn to orbit the Sun. After March 2025, Saturn’s axial tilt will bring the rings back into view, then vanish again in November 2025.

https://www.earth.com/news/saturns-majestic-rings-will-vanish-in-just-six-months-from-now-2025/

[(Anonymous)]

another to share:

Yale divinity students forced to read from witch’s ‘spell’ at orientation

https://www.thecollegefix.com/yale-divinity-students-forced-to-read-from-witchs-spell-at-orientation/

[ecosophia]

I wish the people who do things like this would bother to think things through. Do they really want to be burned at the stake? They're acting like it...